Automatic hopper and feeding device.



J. S. MARDON & L. D. FAY.

AUTOMATIC HOPPER AND FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3I, 1914.

1 1 37, 346. Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

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WITNESSES: w 51 a an %%%0% lollisfflly ATT NEY "HE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTU-LHHQ. WASHINGTON. D. C

1.8. MARDON & L. D. FAY. AUTOMATIC HOPPER AND FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3h I914.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

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WITNESSES THE NORRIS PETER. CO PHOTO-LITHG WASHINGTON. D C

J. S. MARDON & L. D. FAY.

AUTOMATIC HOPPER AND FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.31. l9l4.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

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'"5 NORRIS PETERS 00.. PIIIOTO'LITNOU WAIHINGM, D- C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN S. MARDON AND LOUIS D. FAY, OF LOYALTON', CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC HOPPER AND FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Application filed August 31, 1914. Serial No. 859,340.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN S. MARDON and LOUIS D. FAY, citizens of the United States, residing at Loyalton, in the county of Sierra and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Hoppers and Feeding Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an automatic hopper and feeding device for wood working machines, and pertains especially to means for automatically turning lumber from a horizontal to a vertical edge position and feeding and conveying it to resawing machines. Manifestly, however, the machine is capable of being put to a variety of uses.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation. Fig. 4 is an end view of the feeding or turning section of the device.

A represents a framework of suitable description, upon which is mounted the inclined feed table 2 forming one wall of a V-shaped hopper, the other wall of the hopper being represented at 3. The side of the hopper extends approximately at right angles to the bottom 2 and at the lower edge thereof. The stack of boards or lumber to be handled is laid in the hopper upon the table 2.

Appropriate means to move the lumber over the table piece by piece from the bottom of the stack are employed, such as a pair of chains 5, with connecting cross-bars 6 at suitable intervals; these cross-bars 6 acting as a pusher in moving over the surface of the table and passing beneath the front end of the same and then returning at the rear. The chains 5 travel over sprockets 7 mounted on shafts 8 appropriately driven, as by the friction disk 9 on one of the shafts 8 and the adjustable friction roller 10 on the drive shaft 11. The drive shaft 11 is operated from any suitable source of power and the friction pulley 10 may be shifted radially of disk 9 by suitable means, as the notched bar 12 and lever 13. This form of friction drive allows the carrier,

consisting of the chains 5 and cross-bars 6, to be driven at any suitable or desired speed. The push bar 6 is of suitable thickness to engage only a bottom board of the stack resting upon the table 2. The other boards are prevented from feeding forwardly, except singly, as they come to the bottom of the stack, by appropriate means, as the head gate 14, Fig. 3, which is adjusted vertically by appropriate means, as the lock bolts 15 and vertical slots 16. Varying feed opening 17, permits the adjustment of the machine to lumber of different thicknesses. The next step is to turn the board, after it has passed through the slot 17, so that it will stand vertically on edge. This is accomplished by means of a trough-like structure which is arranged in continuation of the feed hopper, just described, and comprises a vertical wall 18 leading forward beyond the head gate 14 from the line of juncture of the bottom 2 and side 3 of the hopper; the other side of the trough being made up of an inclined bottom section 19 which is substantially in the same plane as the top of the table 2. From section 19 there is a symmetrically curved continuation 20 gradually leading into a vertical wall 21, suitably spaced from the opposite wall 18 to inclose a vertical slot 22. The slot 22 is of approximately the same width as slot 17, so that only a single board passes therethrough.

In order to adjust the slot 22 to the slot 17, or, in other words, to adjust the machine to handling lumber of different thicknesses, the wall section 20-21 and 18 are made transversely adjustable on frame A by appropriate means, as the lock bolts 23, working in the slots 24, Figs. 1 and 4. The straight inclined section 19 is long enough to receive the lumber sections fed from the hopper, as it would be inadvisable to try and turn the lumber until after it has fully cleared the slot 17. Each section of lumber as it is fed forward by the carrier chains and through the slot 17 pushes on a section in advance until eventually the forwardmost section assumes a true vertical position ready for treatment in some succeeding machine.

It is manifest that various changes may be made in the details of the machine and the materials used without in any wise departing from the spirit and principle of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In combination with a feed hopper, a turning device including a vertical straight wall and a curved wall which latter starting from a position at an angle to said vertical wall terminates in a vertical portion arranged parallel to the vertical wall so as to form a vertically disposed discharge in conjunction with the vertical wall.

2. In a feeding device, a hopper having an inclined side and a conveyer cooperating with said side to form a second side for the hopper and a turning device located at the inner end of the conveyer and consisting of a vertical wall and a curved Wall which walls conjointly form a vertically disposed discharge for the material.

3. The combination with a feed hopper, of a turning device consisting of a trough having one vertical side wall, the other wall of the trough being gradually curved from an inclined to a vertical position with a suitable space intervening between the two walls whereby the material is turned by moving same lengthwise to cause its front end to engage the curved trough wall.

4. The combination of a hopper having a bottom portion which is inclined transversely, a side portion at the lower edge of the inclined bottom and at right angles thereto, an adjustable gate, a pair of traveling chains with a connecting push bar traveling over the bottom, a trough beyond the gate having a vertical Wall, and a bottom portion which is in substantially the same plane with and in continuation of the bottom of said hopper, said trough having a curved wall continuation beyond its inclined bottom, said curved wall gradually approaching a perpendicular and cooperating with the opposite vertical wall of the trough to form a guide slot, substantially as described.

5. A machine for turning lumber from a horizontal to a vertical edge position comprising in combination a hopper having a transversely inclined bottom, a headgate adjustable at right angles to the bottom to form a feed slot through which the lumber to be treated is allowed to pass, a pair of chains at each side of said bottom with a connecting push bar adapted to travel over the bottom in the direction of said feed slot, means for varying the speed of travel of the push bars, and a turning device beyond the slot and terminating in a transversely adjustable vertical slot.

6. In a feeding device, a hopper having an inclined side and a conveyer cooperating with said side to form a second side for the hopper, and a turning device located at the inner end of the conveyer and adapted to turn the material by engagement with the front end thereof.

7. In combination with a conveyer, a turning device having a straight and a curved wall which engage with the front end of the material and cooperate to alter the position of the material during the conveyer movement.

8. In combination with an inclined Wall, a conveyer cooperating with said Wall and forming a feed hopper in conjunction therewith, a vertical wall extending from one end of the inclined wall, an inclined bottom member located at the adjacent end of the conveyer, and a curved wall located adjacent to the inclined bottom member and cooperating therewith, and with the vertical wall.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN S. MARDON. LOUIS D. FAY. Witnesses:

CHAs. SCHLEIF, A. I. MEDEARIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

